Rain Delay
by MagicInHerMadness
Summary: Is it just the rain delay or is something else bugging Mike? My take on Padres activities during the rain delay.


**A/N: I have this headcanon that Ginny teases grumpy!Mike until he smiles. She'll be as silly as she needs to make him smile, and Mike doesn't want to give in but fuck she makes him happy.**

 **I also have this headcanon that Ginny can sing despite her inability to carry a tune with a handle on it when she hums.**

If there's one thing that annoys Mike, it's a rain delay. The way the rain makes his bones ache is a close second, but he'd take that suffering over being cooped up in the clubhouse any day. It's not that he doesn't like his teammates. It's just that he's been around them all for a decade. And familiarity breeds contempt like you wouldn't believe. Add that to the fact that somehow he'd lost control of the music selections and he was positively grumpy. That's how Ginny had described him anyway after listening to him complain for twenty minutes. He's managed to annoy her away. She's currently in the corner opposite him, making origami animals. It's a strange hobby of hers that's left his hobby littered with tiny creatures made of his ubiquitous gum wrappers. He almost goes over, but he's still annoyed.

His spirits don't lift when someone turns on "Fight Song," a tune that for all its catchiness annoys the ever-loving fuck out of him. (Blip's theory is that it's the singer's name. Mike begs to differ because he's not 6.) He snaps, "Turn that shit off! Somebody!"

No one moves to do it (the song is an unabashed team favorite) and he rolls his eyes. "Seriously? Whose music is this? Are we in a clubhouse or at a slumber party?"

He's about to call for it to be turned off when a voice draws his attention. He turns back around in his chair and his brow furrows because Ginny's singing and the paint's still on the walls. Considering her god-awful humming, she shouldn't be able to sing without losing several friends. But there she is, absently singing along to the song, unaware of the eyes she's drawn. " _This is my fight song/ Take back my life song/ Prove them all right song/My power's turned on/ Starting right now I'll be strong/ I'll play my fight song/ And I don't care if nobody else believes/ Cause I've still got a lot of fight left in me_ …"

By the time it's over and Ginny's gone quiet, the song is definitely a favorite of Mike's, if only because this is the first time he's really listened to it. Salvamini's voice draws his gaze away. "Can we play some Taylor Swift?"

He's effectively stolen the moment as everyone turns to look at him. The center-fielder shrugs his broad shoulders, even puffs out his chest a little. "Don't fucking judge me."

Stubbs looks to Mike but he only shrugs, throwing up his hands because he's got nothing left. The clubhouse has apparently become a Claire's. Stubbs shrugs too, still looking uncertain though he tosses Sal the Bluetooth speaker. Sal pairs it with his phone and Mike watches in near disbelief as he scrolls through an apparently long list of Taylor Swift songs, trying to pick. He frowns when Ginny perches herself on the arm of Sal's chair and leans her head down to peer at his screen. She shakes her head. "That's too much."

"Is it?"

She laughs and nods. "I will cry. Like real tears."

Sal laughs, keeps scrolling. "It's gotten me a few times."

"It's because it's so true. It's too true, honestly."

Mike is glowering by the time they've run through the whole list, debating the pros and cons of each song. He barks, "Just pick something. Fucking Christ!"

Ginny looks up at him briefly, a question on her face, but she quickly looks back at the phone, points to a song. "Please play that. I know you wanna hear Taylor but we have to play that. Please."

Sal smiles and turns on the song. It's not Taylor Swift but some other pop singer with a grating voice. Mike vaguely remembers Rachel playing this song, but he can't name it. It's apparently one that Ginny and Sal seem to particularly enjoy, singing along to every lyric. Mike tells himself that it's just the song that's bothering him, that it's his hated of pop music.

" _It's not always rainbows and butterflies/ It's compromise that moves us along/ My heart is full and my door's always open/ You can come any time you want…_ "

Sal smiles at Ginny, nudges her with his elbow. "You're almost as good as me, Baker."

If Mike frowns any harder, he's going to pop a blood vessel. And he looks around for someone to share his distaste with but the rest of the guys are laughing, some waving their phones like lighters, some videoing the impromptu performance. Mike looks forward to scowling at his Twitter feed later that night when the video goes viral.

" _I don't mind spendin' everyday/ Out on your corner in the pourin' rain/ Look for the girl with the broken smile/ Ask her if she wants to stay a while/ And she will be loved/ And she will be loved…_ "

The finish and the team bursts into applause. Sal is actually blushing at the way Ginny's laughing. Mike pushes out of his chair, leaves the room. He finds the workroom blessedly empty and sprawls on the cool floor, frowning at the ceiling. The silence isn't comforting though, he notes with a sigh. He misses the days when the clubhouse was his kingdom, when he ruled it with ease. Or at least the times when it made him smile.

And he misses Ginny. Fuck he misses her. And it isn't that she's gone anywhere. It's that everyone else discovered his best kept secret, that's she's literal sunshine. Now it's junior high and everyone wants her attention. He misses the days when he was her only friend, when she really was an annoying little duckling that followed him everywhere, seeming to just want to be with him. He'd assumed it was him, that she was enamored with him, but apparently it was just that he was her only option for companionship.

The door opens and shuts and he's greeted with her scent, cinnamon and jasmine and something citrusy, before he actually sees her. She squats beside him, peering down at his face, her expression serious. "What's with you? Rain making you achy old man?"

It is, but that's hardly cause enough for his attitude. He shrugs, still frowning. "Getting too old for all that raucous."

Ginny laughs though he can tell from her expression that she doesn't quite believe him. She smirks at his frowning face, reaches over and pulls at his left cheek until he snatches his face from her grasp. "Cut it out, Baker."

And she's laughing, her nose scrunched like it does. "I'm sorry. You're just really cute when you're grumpy, like a bearded baby."

Mike rolls his eyes, looks away from her so she won't see his cheeks flush at her calling him cute. "Fuck you."

She laughs harder, falling onto her back beside him. He jumps when she reaches over and tickles his side and she manages to laugh harder. When he looks at her, there are tears on her cheeks. She recovers a little and sits up beside him. "I'm not leaving until I get a smile, old man."

"Then you'll be here all night," Mike mutters. He's already in a better mood but he's willing to keep up the grumpy act if it'll keep her around a little longer.

" _You make me feel so young/ You make me feel so spring has sprung_ —"

"Shut the fuck up." There's a glimmer of a smirk on his face. He regrets letting her look through his music collection, especially when she opens her mouth again.

" _Pour me something tall and strong/ Make it a hurricane before I go insane/ It's only half past twelve but I don't care_ —"

Mike rolls his eyes. "I'm gonna smother you, Baker."

She laughs again but stops, her face alight. "I got it. _You make me smile like the sun/ Fall out of bed/ Sing like a bird/ Dizzy in my head/ Crazy on a Sunday night/ You make me dance like a fool/ Forget how to breathe/ Shine like gold/ Buzz like a bee/ Just the thought can drive me wild/ Oh you make me smile_."

He can't hold it any longer if only because she's trying so hard. He laughs, a deep bellied chuckle that makes Ginny laugh too. "You know what I don't get? Why you sound like that when you hum if you can sing."

Ginny shrugs. "I've never heard myself hum. What do I sound like?"

"An angry cat," he replies with a laugh.

She shrugs again. "I don't know what to tell you."

"Tell me you'll stop humming," he replies with a smile that broadens when she laughs.

"I guess I can quit, although I don't really notice when I do it. Just tell me and I'll stop."

"Can do."

The door opens and Al's head pops in. "We need to be ready in 20."

Ginny nods and Mike watches as she stretches her legs out before her. He gets up, reluctant to leave but he's gotta go give a speech to the guys. His hand is on the doorknob when it starts. Mike listens to the off-key humming until he discerns that it's "Fight Song." He stays at the door for a moment, listening, a smile curving his lips. "Baker."

Her head pops up. "Yeah?"

"Stop."

She laughs and stops, goes back to stretching. Before the door shuts, Mike catches strains of the noise again.

When he gets back to the main room, the guys are stretching and suiting up. And even the sight of Duarte pulling on his catching gear doesn't make him frown as he walks over to Blip who looks up at him. "You and the wife make up?"

Mike cracks an unwilling grin. "Shut up, Sanders."

"I just think it's interesting how you were man-struating up until you spent a little quality time with the old ball and chain. I'm sorry work wife. Whatever y'all are calling it." Blip laughs. "Maybe I'm overanalyzing though."

Mike shakes his head. "You are."

Blip shrugs and pulls on his cap. Mike always sighs in relief when Ginny comes bounding into the main room, that stupid smile on her face. She catches his eye, gives him a Mike Lawson™ wink complete with his eyebrow quirk, and he can actually feel Blip staring at his face as the most reluctant smile in history breaks through.

 **A/N: Don't forget to review! XOXOXOXO**


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